I cannot believe that I have been blogging for over five years beginning with How Important is Doctrine and as of today, have written 619 posts, this being my 620th. Every now and then, I go back to my old posts and re-read some of them, if not for anything else to re-encourage myself. So out of these 600+posts, below are ten of my favorite posts in no particular order and my reasons why. Just click on the titles to read the posts

1. The Marks of False ‘Christian’ teachers and teaching – OK, I am going to cheat on the first one as it was my first series (11 parts in total) called The Marks of False ‘Christian’ teachers and teaching starting with A Form of godliness. I saw so much foolishness in churches and on Christian TV and I knew that a lot of people were beginning to question a lot of things but were afraid to say anything. I just said what they were thinking. So I wrote the series and gave my reasons for doing it as I know a lot of people would think that I was just a heresy hunter. If you want to read the full series, just follow the links at the bottom of the posts

2. To tithe or not to tithe – Tithing was one of those things that kept me in bondage early on in my days and I know keeps many in bondage today. Many preachers use old testament scriptures like Malachi 3:8-12 to manipulate people into giving money and making them feel that they have robbed God if they don’t give their 10%. That was until I searched the scriptures for myself only to find that the new testament principle of giving is proportional giving and giving out of what you have and not out of what you don’t have thus getting yourself into debt. It is also about a person giving what THEY purpose in their heart (2 Cor 9:7) . I wrote this to make it plain why Christians are not under any obligation to tithe anymore under the new covenant.

3. How do you know that you are saved (that you are a Christian)? – I really enjoyed writing this blog because it became very apparent to me that many people thought that they were Christians but they were actually self-deceived. This troubled me so I wanted to have some kind of ‘test’ whereby a person could measure up themselves to. Luckily the books of 1 and 2 John has such a test and has been one of my most popular posts that is found when people do searches, which tells me that a lot of people really do want to know if they are a Christian or not.

4. So you think that you’re a Christian. Power testimonies from former false converts – This ties in to number 3. When I heard these testimonies, I knew there were countless amount of people in this situation and I wanted to share it because I wanted others to see if they could see themselves in the mirror and if so, do something about it. The worse deception ever is to think that you are a Christian when, in fact, you are not

5. Spending Quality Time with God – This post always comes to haunt me because I know that this is something that I am constantly guilty of not doing but it is a constant reminder of where our priorities should be

6. When your children don’t want to follow God – This post was and still is a very personal one to me. It hurts me to know that my children (so far) have decided to not follow Christ. I can only pray that God orchestrates the events in their life to point them to him.

7. Every Man’s Battle – I wrote this because it is a taboo subject amongst Christian men but can be a deadly poison if not dealt with….especially when it comes to the summer.

8. The Money Challenge – If anything, this is a shame on most of us as Christians about what motivates us to share the gospel with others. I never want to be Christian that as the gospel group, Commissioned, say in one of their songs that we “tend to find security in our salvation. We should constantly think about the lost”

10. Christ is the only way, now you choose– I have posted many videos over the years but I love this video because it puts everything in perspective about what Christ has done and how he has provided a way out for those who have repented and put their trust in him

OK, so summer has finally arrived in the UK (well sort of if you know anything about the British weather). For most single christian men (and dare I say some married also), that can only mean one thing. The battle with the flesh is intensified. Girls walking around in their skimpy outfits does not help a brother keep his mind on the Lord. In fact if we are honest, the mind of a man seems to have its own ‘mind’ and just reinforces the depravity of man. As sincere as we are, our minds sometime slip into lustful thoughts and some of us have been trapped by things such as pornagraphy and masturbation or the ‘Master Bait’ as one person put it. We cannot rebuke ‘in the name of Jesus’ the attraction towards the opposite sex as these feeling are God-given. As one person said, you cannot stop the birds from flying over your head but you can stop them making a nest there

So what can you do to help you overcome? Here are some practical steps which I hope will help

I think the first thing is to fill your mind with the word of God. The mind is where the battle starts and that is what has to be renewed by the washing of the word (Romans 12:2)

If you have to, keep busy if you find that boredom makes your mind go astray

Block TV channels. If you have to use a PIN to access certain channels, get a friend to block the channels on your behalf and not reveal the PIN to you. That way, even if you get tempted to ‘just put the PIN in’, you can’t. So in other words. ‘cut off your right hand’ (Matthew 54:30)

Use accountability software for your computer. X3watch is free accountability software designed to help with online integrity. When you browse the internet and access a site which may contain questionable material, the program will record the site name. A person of your choice (an accountability partner) will receive an email containing all questionable sites you may have visited. This information is meant to encourage open and honest conversation between friends and help you be more accountable to your online adventures

Avoid places and situations, if you can, that will just feed your lust and know your limits and dont try to justify it. Sin can be so deceiving (Hebrews 3:13)

These are just a few guidelines and are by no means exhaustive but I pray that it will help men, not only in the summer but throughout every season. It truly is a battle.